Jack Dewey, 1949

Fortunately for Dewey, that great conflict, World War II, ended a few months later. He would spend the next year or so aboard a cargo ship tasked with doing repair work of other vessels. Sailing around a world newly at peace, Dewey and his fellow sailors were welcomed everywhere they went. “Everybody loved us,” Dewey remembers.

When his time in the Navy was over, Dewey came to Babson. In the fall of 1946, he joined other returning veterans eager to settle into civilian life. That group of students, the Class of ’49, swelled enrollment at the school and brought a new vitality to the institution.

In the decades that followed, they also established a robust scholarship fund that continues to make an impact on Babson students today. “We think the scholarship program has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,” says Dewey.

As was typical of the Greatest Generation, Dewey and his fellow students didn’t dwell on their war experiences while at Babson. Sure, they might relay a funny story from their time in the service, but otherwise, they were ready to focus on their studies and start their careers. “I can never remember anyone talking about war or battles,” Dewey says. “It was past.” Dewey was one of 253 men to earn their degrees in 1949, and he went on to work at Liberty Mutual Insurance for 40 years. He also remained involved with Babson for decades, as Bill Cruickshank ’49, H’99, one of Babson’s biggest cheerleaders, would recruit Dewey to help with raising funds from their fellow classmates.

Jack Dewey, 2019
Photo: Pat Piasecki

“You could not say no to Bill,” says Dewey, who in September received the Richard J. Snyder Distinguished Service to the College Award.

In 1984, the Class of ’49 established its scholarship fund in honor of its 35th reunion. Through the years, the scholarship has been awarded to nearly 250 students. “You ought to see the achievements of our scholars,” Dewey says. “I am very proud of that.”

Today, only 24 members of the Class of ’49 remain, as the relentless march of time has taken its toll. Dewey lives at the North Hill retirement community, located just down the road from Babson. Considering that North Hill sits on land actually owned by Babson, people who know Dewey like to joke: “Jack loved the College so much that he never left the campus.” – John Crawford

Editor’s Note: With great admiration and heartfelt sadness, we dedicate this story to Jack Dewey, who passed away in October.

The goalie looked toward his jubilant teammates huddling together on the field. He spotted Jon Anderson ’75, P’04 ’08 ’13 ’13, a midfielder known as “Jonny A” to the team. “I remember Jonny A. coming off the pile and running toward me, arms wide open,” says Kennedy. “It was quite a moment.”

As part of Babson’s Centennial celebrations, all five of the school’s national champion squads—the 1975, 1979, and 1980 men’s soccer teams, the 1984 men’s ice hockey team, and the 2017 men’s basketball team—will be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in September.

The 1975 championship, Babson’s first, brought lots of publicity to an institution that was coming into its own, both athletically and academically. “Nobody knew anything about this school,” Anderson says. “We were buried in the woods of Wellesley.”

That was evident in the semifinal of the national tournament, when Babson played a confidant Ohio Wesleyan University. But Babson stunned the team, defeating them 5-0, and then went on to shut out the defending champion, The College at Brockport, 1-0, for the title.

The Beavers arrived back to campus late and were surprised to see their fellow students lining College Drive to welcome them home. “It was an incredible scene,” says Anderson.

Coach Jon Anderson
Photo: Paige Brown

Outscoring opponents by a combined score of 61-5, the 1975 team finished the season unbeaten. Much credit goes to head coach Bob Hartwell for building a strong program at a school not known for athletic excellence. “He wanted a program filled with pride and tradition,” says Anderson.

These days, Anderson is Babson’s head men’s soccer coach, having led the Beavers for 33 seasons. Kennedy, a sculptor in California who created the Babson Totem by the athletics fields, also coaches high school soccer. He remembers how Hartwell pushed the team to do its best. “There was an expectation that you were going to fight and give it all you had,” he says. “We fed off that.” – John Crawford

Roger Babson

Roger Babson may have been a dedicated businessman during the week, but Sundays were set aside for church services and family suppers. As devoted as he was to this spiritual routine, one of his granddaughters recalls that entrepreneurship was never far from his mind.

Marlene Graf says that these weekend get-togethers included her grandfather “always bringing out a new project he had going.” Once, it was a box filled with faux diamonds. “He was always looking for a new investment, a new invention.”

Those who knew Babson recall a driven man who was both practical and sentimental, who loved his family, was deeply religious, and had a determination to help others succeed.

“Anybody could talk to him,” says Judy Webber Ross, Graf’s older sister, who remembers accompanying her grandfather as he stopped by the campus lunchroom to talk with students and staff. She adds that he encouraged empathy in others. Babson took her to a convalescent home in a building that eventually became part of the campus, one that at the time treated polio patients. “He wanted me to see what life was like for people who had polio.”

Katherine Babson Jr. MBA’77, H’99, was in junior high school when she asked Babson, her grandfather’s second cousin, to contribute an ad for her school magazine. “We had a nice discussion,” she says, “and he gave me a check for the ad. The check had his picture on the left side, and on the right side was a picture of Sir Isaac Newton.”

Babson made an impression on students as well. Jack Dewey ’49, P’80 attended Babson’s weekly Friday talks on campus where Babson offered students guidance on business and investments.

Dewey, who worked for Liberty Mutual and directs the annual scholarship award selection committee for the Class of ’49 Scholarship Fund, says his education included statistics, which he loathed. “When I finally got into management,” he says, “I started using statistics. I found out how valuable they were. So, Roger knew more about it than I did.”

And what would Roger Babson think about the campus today? Those who knew him say he would likely be surprised—but pleased—by the coed campus; stunned to see a pub that bears his name, given his stance on Prohibition; and thrilled at the College’s expanded curriculum and focus on entrepreneurship.

“I think the school has progressed further than probably he ever thought it would,” Dewey says. – Jeannine Stein